Patrice Lumumba Killing In Nigeria Research Paper

The movie “Lumumba” displays the ironic struggle that came with newfound independence in postcolonial Congo, specifically in the year 1960. It follows the story of Patrice Lumumba, an educated African man with a craving for independence. Early in the movie, Lumumba is arrested for promoting dissent, but is soon released to attend the “round table” meeting in which he is able to create a deal that would allow for the Congo to finally be independent from Belgian rule. Lumumba is elected as prime minister and is quickly thrown into governing a postcolonial state with a complete lack of order. He begins with a large range of supporters and high hopes for the state’s success without being under Belgian control. The ways in which the state had been run under colonialism, which created the lack of a viable economy, a nonexistent nationalism among the Congolese people, and violent race relations derived from the struggle for power, all set Lumumba up to ultimately fail as a postcolonial leader through the struggle to build a state, create a sense of nationalism, and find a general unity among the Congolese people.

Houphouëtism, known as “the culture of dialogue and peace,” was a leadership style similar to a kind of “political engineering,” that was left behind by the political-mastermind, Felix Houphouët Boigny, a political legacy. Houphouët began by leading Côte d'Ivoire to a negotiated independence in 1960, and he continued to lead until his death in 1993. To this day, he is considered “the father of the nation” but life in Côte d'Ivoire has not been the same since his death (Akindes, 2004).

On September 5th Kasavubu dismissed Lumumba however he didn't listen and just dismissed Kasavubu which made a lot of people in the Congo mad. Colonel Joseph Mobutu, in hope of avoiding a civil war, ordered the soviets out of the country and while doing that showed his support of a pro-western government. Lumumba later was suspected of a plot to assassinate Mobutu and was exiled from the Congo and eventually killed. The C.I.A and U.S. wanted to aid Mobutu with money, warning of assassination plot and recommendations.

The bad luck that seems to always plague Condo is a result of the failure of democracy and the of the Congo is due to the post-independence failure to consolidate democracy, a failure that is primarily a function of the deception of the civilians presumption of their political and military chiefs, placed the exploitation of resources over the security of their people. (Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges. "Political Dimensions of the International Debt Crisis." (1989): 1-3. Web.) After failed attempts to halt the growing conflict the Democratic Republic of Congo tiredly signed the Agreement for a Cease-fire in Lusaka July 10th 1999. The main components of the treaty included: immediate ceasefire; the founding of the Joint Military Commission

This is a tale of horror and tragedy in the Congo, beginning with the brutal and exploitative regime of King Leopold II of Belgium, and culminating with the downfall of one of Africa’s most influential figures, Patrice Lumumba. The Congo is but one example of the greater phenomenon of European occupation of Africa. The legacy of this period gives rise to persistent problems in the Congo and throughout Africa. Understanding the roots and causes of this event, as focused through the lense of the Congo, is the subject of this paper.

(United Nations 1). Early in 1992, the R.U.F seized Kono, the diamond mining capital of Sierra Leone, because of the amount of profit in the diamond mining industry in Africa, and initiated a diamond conflict between some diamond mining nations in Africa, thus starting (Gerund) the “War over Conflict Diamonds”. In an attempt to put (Infinitive) a halt to this uprising, the National Provisional Ruling Council (N.P.R.C) waged war with the R.U.F., creating “Operation Genesis” to force out the R.U.F. (Brown 1). However, this did not succeed, causing an attack by the R.U.F. on Sierra Leoneans. To intimidate voters and keep control on the diamond mines, the R.U.F “chopped off the hands and feet of adults, teens, and infants.” (Brown 1). Despite this vicious onslaught, the R.U.F. was still allowed to participate (Infinitive) in the elections. (Brown 1). This remains the biggest reason that we must put an end to these rebel groups and the pain they cause to African families.

The newly independent Congo was only two weeks old when Moise Tshembe declared the city of Katanga a separate nation. This decision had affected both countries mainly because of how wealthy and desired Katanga’s land was. Because of the city’s copper belt and profitable mining operation, when it succeeded the Belgians, French, and British rushed to support it in hopes to take advantage of its valuable land. The countries even took stabs at manipulating the unexperienced, tribal leader. Even though this was against U.N. rules, the countries placed mercenaries in katanga’s army. Back in the Congo, this was bad news for Patrice Lumumba. He soon appealed to the U.N. for weapons and soldiers to end the secession. The U.N. at first refused and deemed

“The Democratic Republic of Congo has a long history of conflict, but it’s recent crises can be traced to the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. In response to violence carried out by exiled Rwandan Hutu genocidaires; Rwandan and Ugandan force invaded the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1996” (Responsibility to Protect). What the world and America should have done to prevent the DR-Congo conflict is intervene in the Rwandan genocide; while they had a chance because Congo became the precursor of the Rwandan genocide. The Rwandan genocide had a major impact on the conflict occurring in DR-Congo because of the killers blending in the refugee camps and taking over and committing atrocities to men, women, and children.

was rich in Nigeria. Mass hunger also occurred. After the war, the current leader fled to Britain, and a

Sierra Leone’s modern history is one that is full of issues which were prevalent throughout the latter part of the 20th century. This small country has struggled to maintain a proper footing. Unfortunately, it took multiple coups and a violent civil war for Sierra Leone to reach a somewhat stable state socially. These issues may be largely due to the country’s strange origins. This essay will be discussing some of the events that lead up to the brutal civil war and the war itself.

The Igbo people of Nigeria were in dismay when the British imperialism took over their tribe. Like many instances of a larger group overthrowing people there is bound to be backlash from those people. The British completely overturned their traditional way of life to the point that many of the people were leaving such as the sons of Umuofia who have “gone their several ways”. At the start the British provided a new language, allowed Nneka to keep her twins due to the new religion, and introduced trade into their non-existent economy, but as they began to use the tribe Okwonkwo turned on them. They ended up having a negative impact on the tribe rather than a positive one. Forcing them into their own government and violating their religion was

Furthermore, proceeding the conquest by foreigners, the ethnic groups of Nigeria had independent histories. According to the well known forum, Countries and Their Cultures, “Their grouping together into a single entity known as Nigeria was a construct of their British colonizers. These various ethnic groups never considered themselves part of the same culture. This general lack of Nigerian nationalism coupled with an ever-changing and often ethnically biased national leadership, have led to severe internal ethnic conflicts and a civil war.” (Asogwa) As demonstrated by the previous excerpt Nigeria was inhibited by fully functional native tribes.

Prior to the advent of the British Colonialists to our shores more than four hundred years ago, the traditional institutions held sway as the organisational structure around which the socio-political, cultural, administrative and economic life of the people revolved. It was therefore, not surprising that the colonialists who came to exploit us with their imperial motives and to imposed their own social order on the indigenous existing nationalities that later coalesced into the present day Nigeria, found it expedient to enlist the support and cooperation of traditional rulers in securing their hold on the conquered territories.

The inner conflict between the Biafra region and the mainland Nigerian government began approximately seven years after gaining independence from the British on October 1st, 1960. The Nigerian Civil War also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War plummeted the country through three years of unmitigated bloodshed with a death toll of over a million people. The war initiated by the succession of the southeastern region on May 30th, 1967 declaring itself the Independent Republic of Biafra.

In July of 1956, Lumumba was sentenced to two years imprisonment for embezzling $2,520 from the post office for the Association des Evolués. After the Association returned the money, Lumumba’s sentence was reduced to 12 months, which began his career as a prisoner, leaving and re-entering the prison system for the next five years. During his 1956-1957 imprisonment, Lumumba wrote Congo, My Congo, 200 pages to “make a contribution towards the search for a solution for the present and future problems of the Congo” (Lumumba 7). Because this book was not published until after Lumumba’s death, it did not have an impact on the independence movement, but the views Lumumba wrote about certainly did.